Pink and Yellow Wishes
by BuffyAnn23
Summary: The Doctor gives Rose a reason to start celebrating her Birthdays again.
Rose's birthdays had never really been lavish affairs. When she was younger they usually consisted of sleepovers and skating parties and as she grew older they were spent going out to clubs with a few mates. When she first wound up in Pete's World she had no desire to even bother celebrating, even though her parents did offer to throw her a proper party. It wasn't like she was even really sure how old she was anymore anyway. That was the thing about time travel. Time was relative. She could have been gone for years but to everyone else who knew her it was only a mere matter of hours or days. And now, having been forced to return to the slow path alone, the arrival of each birthday just served as a painful reminder that another linear year had come and gone since she had been separated from the love of her life.

When Rose finally did decide to actually celebrate her birthday again it was after returning to Pete's World for the second time. In lieu of a party, she opted for a quiet intimate evening in with her family and The Doctor by her side. Once dinner was over and the gifts had been packed up The Doctor and Rose said their goodbyes and headed home for the evening.

"So, did you have a good birthday?" he asked as they walked hand in hand along the stone path to their car.

"Yeah." she admitted. "The best birthday I've had in a long time."

"Weelll, The night's not over just yet." he wagged his eyebrows.

Rose giggled softly, ducking her head. "You know, I never thought I'd actually be celebratin' one of these again. After you and I were…" she choked on the words. "After we said goodbye, I didn't want to have to think about how much time had passed. It just felt like a stab to the heart to have this annual reminder of how long I'd been without you."

"But I'm here now." The Doctor pointed out and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "So we can start celebrating your birthdays properly again. I mean, not taking into account the last few years, but surely you have to have some good birthday memories to build upon right?"

Rose shrugged. "Other than the ones spent with you, my birthdays have never been a really huge occasion but," she paused in thought, a small smile tugging at her lips. "I do remember these cards I used to get. Mum told me she thought they were from my Gran but they never had a return address. They were always the same, a yellow envelope and a pink card with a Rose on the front. Sometimes it had money in it and sometimes it came with a little bag of my favorite candy, but there was always some little poem or limerick that seemed to coincide with what was happenin' in my life at the time and it always lifted my spirits. I looked forward to it every year. The last one I got came a few months early for some reason. It was in with some mail that I picked up from Mum on our last visit before…" she shook away the memory of that horrid day. "I left it my room on the TARDIS. Never even got the chance to read it." she said regretfully.

"You could read it now." At her questioning look, The Doctor slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew a small yellow envelope and handed it to her.

Rose carefully extracted the pink card with her namesake on the front from the envelope and stared down at in disbelief. "I don't understand." She met his eyes.

"Just read it." he replied softly.

Opening the card, she slowly poured over the beautiful words of love, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as tears filled her eyes. "These were from you?" she whispered, looking back up at him. "But how did you…"

The Doctor chuckled lightly. "Time machine, remember." He tugged lightly on his ear, tucking his free hand in his pocket. "I had hoped you'd get a chance to read it before…" he gestured vaguely. "But then when I found it in your room unopened I realized I had misjudged the timing again and…" he sighed. "I wanted to tell you how I felt so many times Rose and I wasted chance after chance. But I'm never gonna make that mistake again. I love you and I'll shout it from the rooftops if need be because I…"

Rose cut him off, pressing her lips to his in a breathtaking kiss. "I love you too." she murmured, pulling back. "And thank you." she clutched the card tightly to her chest as though trying to imprint it on her heart.

The Doctor grinned, wrapping his arms around her to pull her close and nuzzled her nose with his own. "Happy Birthday, Rose Tyler."


End file.
